England seam bowler Ajmal Shahzad's injury rules him out of one-day series but not as bad as first feared

After a grisly series of injuries at the fag end of this tour, England were
relieved on Tuesday to discover that Ajmal Shahzad’s torn hamstring is not
as bad as first thought. With so many bowlers already in the casualty ward,
the team management were desperate not to suffer further setbacks ahead of
the World Cup.

Doubtful: Ajmal Shahzad has picked up a hamstring injury in Australia that puts in doubt his place in the England team for the forthcoming World CupPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Simon Briggs, in Sydney

10:05AM GMT 01 Feb 2011

When Shahzad first pulled up, while bowling his eighth over in Brisbane on Sunday, it looked as though he could be out of action for a while.

Many observers questioned why he insisted on completing the final two balls (which became three when one of them was called as a wide). But little harm appeared to have been done. The scans showed this to be a minor tear, so minor that he may need only eight days to recover.

There was more good news concerning Chris Tremlett, who had reported pain in his side. But while Tremlett’s scan showed no sign of any muscle damage, the England set-up indicated that they would be cautious about returning him to the front line in Sunday’s final one-day international in Perth, which follows the sixth in Sydney overnight.

Shahzad’s rehabilitation must be the more immediate concern, as he is joining a lengthy absentee list among England’s 15 World Cup selections.

With Tim Bresnan resting his torn calf muscle at home, Stuart Broad still working his way up to full speed in the nets, and Graeme Swann recuperating from two back spasms, four of the seven specialist bowlers are missing.

James Anderson – who was given two short breaks from this tour – is the only first-choice seamer still standing. Michael Yardy and James Tredwell are also fit.

Assuming that Tremlett starts bowling again soon, he could yet come into the World Cup equation, as there is no guarantee that Bresnan will recover fitness over the next month. England have little time left for rest and rehabilitation, with their first full match on Feb 22.

Just to add to the sense of urgency, the International Cricket Council confirmed on Tuesday that England’s two warm-up matches — against Canada on Feb 16 and Pakistan on Feb 18 — can only be contested by players from the full 15-man squad. So if Tremlett or Chris Woakes is required to help out in those games, they will have to be substituted permanently into the party.

Meanwhile, Liam Plunkett is due to arrive in Australia on Wednesday after a horrendous journey that took him from St Kitts to Perth via Miami, London and Singapore.

If England decide to use four seamers at the WACA on Sunday — a logical enough tactic, given its reputation for pace and bounce — you would imagine that Plunkett would join Anderson, Woakes and Steven Finn in the XI.

Just to put into perspective how severe this injury crisis has become, England named nine seam bowlers in their World Cup 30 in mid-December.

Eight of those have either played some part on this tour, or — in Plunkett’s case — are on their way to do so. Poor Jade Dernbach, the ninth man, must be feeling very unloved.